-- Underage drinking and marijuana consumption occurred at college parties. You don't say. [BPDNews] -- And high school students bought a lot of liquor. [WCVB] -- A Lowell pizza joint became a "slaughterhouse" when a man was beaten to death there over the weekend. A suspect has been arrested. [Herald, WBZTV] -- Pervs are on the run. Arrests for subway sexual assault have doubled compared to the same time last year since the transit police......

Homelessness in Massachusetts is at an all-time high, and the future doesn't look bright. [Boston Globe] Even the state government is having trouble making ends meet and has requested funding assistance from the feds. [WBZ] The campaign to catch gropers on the T is leading to more arrests and more victims reporting assaults. [Boston Herald] After a robbery acquittal, a man is trying his hand at ripping off the state legally. [Boston Globe] A......

We covered the launch of BusRyda, which provides mobile MBTA info, last week. The service has already expanded to include a Trip Planner that will help you find out how to get from one particular place to another. Designed with the iPhone in mind, BusRyda also works on other mobile phones. Bostonist talked to BusRyda founder Eric D. Fields, who has a closer connection with DMX than you might think. Read on to learn how......

Massachusetts forced everyone to have health insurance. Now it takes longer to see a doctor, and there are fewer practices accepting new patients. Ah, success. [Boston Globe] Microsoft opened a new research facility in Cambridge. Perhaps they'll eventually get "Obama" into Word's spell-check. [Mass High Tech] The Department of Homeland Security has nixed MBTA plans to expand chemical attack sensors because the existing system is effective enough for them. [Boston Globe] As usual, people......

Bobby Mendes trial begins. [Herald] Star Simpson speaks out! [Boing Boing] Norman Rockwell's "Runaway" will celebrate its 50th anniversary tomorrow. Two local folks were the models for the iconic image. [Globe] Air Force to cleanup water contaminated by military base. [Herald] Oh, what will the Harvard kids pick for careers now? [NYT] The MBTA makes everyone mad, not just us. [Herald] 50% of Massachusetts schools need improvement. [Globe] k a t m caught a......

Knowing when your bus is scheduled to come doesn't always help, as many routes are all too often hopelessly off the mark. Just this Sunday evening we saw two #1 buses tailgating each other around Harvard, from where they were supposed to leave 20 minutes apart. Sigh. But for those of you who retain hope that buses may occasionally arrive when they're intended to, the new service BusRyda has come up with easy mobile alerts......

As of today, there will be more room for riders on the Blue Line. [Boston Globe] The Storrow Drive Tunnel will be closed every night until next Monday. This might become a regular occurrence to complete repairs. [WHDH] The number of Boston-based Lehman Brothers employees is unknown (approx. 28,000 worldwide), but some rushed to clear out their desks last night. [Boston Globe] And we don't know how many Bostonians will be out of a......

-- Elvia McField, 56, was found stabbed to death in her home on Amory St., near the boundary between Roxbury and Jamaica Plain. Police arrested 66-year-old Charles Cherry and charged him with the murder. [WCVB; BPDNews] -- A 25-year-old woman was raped at gunpoint at the Back Bay Orange Line station yesterday evening, and police have arrested a 48-year-old parolee for committing the crime. The woman was approached by her assailant while on the subway......

Nomar and NKOTB are among the celebrities that are owed money by the Commonwealth. [Boston Globe] The state official who was caught on video while stealing from copying machines has resigned to "spend more time with his family." [Cambridge Chronicle] Tonight is the first of 11 public meetings where citizens can comment on the MBTA's newly proposed service changes, which mainly affect bus and ferry lines. [Boston Herald] A debate between John Kerry and......

primefocus caught this funhouse mirror effect Hannah Montana Midatlantic is poised to give us the best of both worlds with lots of rain and wind. [Globe] And it's enough to make Jimmy Buffett move up his concert time. [Globe] Everyone wants a T stop, but not a T maintenance facility. [Somerville News] Protesters attempt to stall Roxbury woman's eviction. [Herald] Big trucks can now get out of Boston into Cambridge over the Longfellow. [WBZTV]......

Although Drivin' Dan G. says they can't afford it, MBTA will address the increased train and bus usage. [Boston Globe] Former Gov. Romney gives a mind-boggling speech at the Republican Convention, including saying Democrats are the "party of Big Brother." [Vox Politics, NPR] A Gloucester teen mom throws her support to Bristol Palin's mom and the old dude. [Boston Herald] After Great White has agreed to pay $1 million to survivors and relatives, the......

The American Public Transit Association (APTA) has ranked Boston first on its most recent list of cities where you can save money by taking public transportation. (We beat NYC by $5 per month--that'll buy a Guinness!) The APTA compiles the list regularly, based on the cost of a monthly transit pass, local parking prices, current gas prices (in this study, $3.678 per gallon, assuming an average 23.4 mpg and 15,000 miles of driving per year),......

-- Who needs MIT hackers when the MBTA Charlie system can fail on it's own? [Zeroday] -- World-record-breaking attempt or largest scale chain mail scam of all time? Send your business card to this Somerville teen and find out! [Wicked Local Blog] -- Gov. Patrick sat down at the keyboard in Denver for about 40 minutes of live-blogging to answer questions. [Blue Mass Group] -- Abraham Lincoln's version of the afterlife involves riding a......

In a revolutionary development for the MBTA, the organization has decided that it might be nice to tell commuters when trains are arriving. As we all know, some stations already have announcements like "The next Red Line train to Alewife is now approaching," but those announcements usually occur at about the time you can either see or feel the train on its way. It would be nice to know whether your wait will be 5......

-- When you're not getting your news from Bostonist, NewsCred might offer the best articles available on the Web. [Blogstring] -- Apparently the T has set up a radar gun to monitor the Green Line speed at Packard's Corner. Lo and behold, someone caught the trolley going almost twice the speed limit. [Universal Hub] -- Someone at the Smithsonian wonders which museum is better: the MFA or the the Brooklyn Museum of Art. She's......

Our favorite bodybuilding, back-aching ex-firefighter appeared on the radio to make his first public statements. Albert Arroyo wishes that other jakes—the ones who show up to work everyday—would be more sympathetic to his plight. [Boston Globe] MBTA employees complain about new federal regulations that require the monitoring of urine tests to detect drug use, in effect saying, "I can't cheat if you're looking." [The Boston Channel] Blame Canada! Our northern neighbors are considering a......

Remember that 9% raise the MBTA gave to its top brass but couldn't figure out how to pay for? Well, now it doesn't have to. After Transportation Secretary Bernard Cohen asked T general manager Dan Grabauskas "WTF?", Grabauskas rescinded the pay increase for the T's highest paid employees. Non-union administrators making less than $70,000 will still see a boost in pay.......

Bostonist received the following email alert from the MBTA today: An MBTA Fare Collection Agent was arrested this morning by Transit Police for allegedly stealing fare revenue. 43-year old Gilberto Carrasquillo of Dorchester is a Senior Revenue Collection Agent, who has been working at the MBTA for more than 22 years. Acting on information from the director of security for the MBTA's Money Room, Transit Police launched an investigation into the possibility that cash was......

The MBTA management has done such a good job avoiding bankruptcy, fare hikes, crashes, fires, hackers, and, of course, riding the T themselves, that they are getting a 9% raise, reports the Globe. General manager Dan Grabauskas and will not be getting a raise, but he is the party who authorized the increase for the T's executives, who currently make an average $83,650.......

Sweet snap of the State House by apdonovan A crane collapsed in Quincy, killing a worker. [Herald] No-show fake-back-problem body-building ex-firefighter wants his job back. [WBZTV] New technology: bacon bomb. [Gizmodo] So the MBTA got the law to force the students who hacked its system to reveal how they did it. Which is pretty much exactly what the students initially wanted to do, but the MBTA turned them away. Nice work. [Globe] While officials......

Why doesn't the NYT have any LOLgalleries? England FTW. [Guardian] Manny may soon be Manny, but dreadless. [Globe] It ain't just hacks that threaten the T--they might want to look into more traditional modes of security. [MetaBoston] We knew the lack of sun was killing us. [Globe] A Plymouth man has invented a notepad... for the wrist. Can we wear these during tests? [Herald] Russia agreed to a cease-fire with Georgia. [NYT] Photo tagged......

It ain't just Dan Grabauskas--apparently over 500 state workers get to cruise home in taxpayer-funded vehicles. Deval Patrick's administration claims it's looking into areas where take-home vehicles can be cut, but spokesman Kyle Sullivan also said, “The overwhelming majority of domicile vehicle privileges are for legitimate public safety and public works purposes." The Herald provides complete listings of folks who drive home on our dime. Even when people get demoted, they still get to keep......

Wired updates us on the MIT Charlie card hacking situation. A restraining order was issued and the students' talk at Defcon was canceled. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, which represented the students, criticized the ruling as limiting free speech. Ironically, the students' vulnerability assessment report that the MBTA filed with its lawsuit contains even more compromising information than the students planned to present in their talk. So, basically, by filing a lawsuit, the T raised more......

Universal Hub points out that three MIT students who hacked the Charlie Card system are scheduled to give a presentation at Defcon tomorrow about how they went about it. The T, while not interested in its hearing about security problems when the students first brought them to the authority, has now filed a lawsuit designed to stop the MIT students from presenting their findings at Defcon. The students insist they will not reveal information specifically......

Today, Red Line trains will resume traveling across the Longfellow Bridge at a clip faster than sprinting pedestrians, reports the Globe. Repairs on the Longfellow are estimated to be 65% complete, and Red Line trains have been authorized to increase speed across the bridge from 10 miles per hour to 25. If no train plunges to its filthy demise in the next couple of weeks, conductors will get the go-ahead to travel at the normal......

The MBTA site says, "Red Line service is experiencing 10-15 minute delays between Park Street and Alewife due to a disabled train." Posted 7:52 AM. Update: alert removed, presumably service is restored. Anyone run into red line problems this morning?......

Livejournal user Maru-Mari found a confounding scene in Medford last night: an MBTA bus hung up on a parked van. More pictures available on the b0st0n community livejoural. Also, check out the commentary on the davis_square livejournal and on Universal Hub.......

Today the MBTA rolled out new Emission Control Diesel buses in the North Shore. The 70 new buses (23 in service now; more to come at the rate of 5 buses per week) will run 24 bus routes departing from the Lynn Garage. The routes serve about 26,000 customers per day in 12 North Shore communities: Beverly, Chelsea, Danvers, Lynn, Malden, Marblehead, Peabody, Revere, Salem, Saugus, Swampscott, and Wakefield. MBTA General Manager Dan Grabauskas said......

MBTA general manager Dan Grabauskas, who never takes the T, told the Globe to expect a "hefty" fare hike in 2010 if the state doesn't bail out the beleaguered transportation authority. Fare increases have happened every three years since 2001, when the legislature stopped covering the T's debt at the end of each budget period. Without the fare increase or legislative action, Grabauskas warned, the T will have to cut bus routes (a lot of......

Colorful car image by Chris Devers Alaska senator Ted Stevens indicted on charges of corruption. [NYT] Home prices fell drastically in May. [Globe] Police have found a vehicle that may have been used in the Reigh Storrow Boss kidnapping. [Globe] Dan Grabauskas isn't the only MBTA employee driving to work in a publicly-funded car. [Herald] Nearly 150 years later, the House is on the verge of apologizing for slavery. And Jim Crow. Well, that'll......